Bill Whale

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3 – SOWF

Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF)

Created in 1980, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is devoted to providing a college education to every child who has lost a parent serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps during an operational or training mission under the U.S. Special Operations Command. This includes over 70,000 military special operations and support personnel assigned to units throughout the United States and around the world.

The SOWF is committed to providing scholarship grants to more than 900 children of the approximately 800 Special Operations personnel who have given their lives for their country since 1980, including those who died fighting our nation’s war against terrorism as part of “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan and the Philippines as well as “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Currently, 190 children of fallen special operations warriors have graduated from college.

Since 2005, the SOWF has provided immediate $2,000 cash grants to personnel seriously wounded in the line of duty. Once notified of a special operations soldier, airman, sailor or Marine hospitalized with a severe injury, the SOWF immediately sends funds to the service member (or his/her designated recipient) so family members can immediately travel to be at their loved one’s bedside. Since this program began in 2005, the SOWF has provided over $1.2 million to wounded special operations personnel.

As an American, I have been blessed to live in a country that has provided me the freedom to pursue whatever goal, opinion, and lifestyle I prefer. I also know that this freedom was bought with a great amount of sacrifice from those that serve in the US Armed Forces. I have always struggled with the question, “How am I giving back to those that sacrificed for my freedom?” Prior to my retirement from the US Naval Reserve, my answer was that I serve to ensure that the relatives of those that paid the ultimate price will have the freedoms that I have enjoyed. Now that I am retired, I am helping raise funds for the SOWF.

Not everyone can or should be on the front lines of today’s battles to protect our freedoms but we all can do our part to help reduce the burdens on the families of those that have paid the ultimate price. Please join me in supporting SOWF so that you can look into their eyes and be able to say you will do your part to help. The warriors going off to protect our freedoms don’t look away or hesitate to suffer a sacrifice to protecting our freedoms. Don’t they deserve our support?